Strewe Claudia, Thieme Detlef, Dangoisse Carole, Fiedel Barbara, van den Berg Floris, Bauer Holger, Salam Alex P, Gössmann-Lang Petra, Campolongo Patrizia, Moser Dominique, Quintens Roel, Moreels Marjan, Baatout Sarah, Kohlberg Eberhard, Schelling Gustav, Choukèr Alexander, Feuerecker Matthias
Laboratory of Translational Research "Stress and Immunity", Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Institute of Doping Analysis and Sports Biochemistry, Dresden, Germany.
Front Physiol. 2018 Nov 26;9:1647. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01647. eCollection 2018.
The Antarctic continent is an environment of extreme conditions. Only few research stations exist that are occupied throughout the year. The German station Neumayer III and the French-Italian Concordia station are such research platforms and human outposts. The seasonal shifts of complete daylight (summer) to complete darkness (winter) as well as massive changes in outside temperatures (down to -80°C at Concordia) during winter result in complete confinement of the crews from the outside world. In addition, the crew at Concordia is subjected to hypobaric hypoxia of ∼650 hPa as the station is situated at high altitude (3,233 m). We studied three expedition crews at Neumayer III (sea level) ( = 16) and two at Concordia (high altitude) ( = 15) to determine the effects of hypobaric hypoxia on hormonal/metabolic stress parameters [endocannabinoids (ECs), catecholamines, and glucocorticoids] and evaluated the psychological stress over a period of 11 months including winter confinement. In the (sea level) crew, EC and -acylethanolamide (NAE) concentrations increased significantly already at the beginning of the deployment ( < 0.001) whereas catecholamines and cortisol remained unaffected. Over the year, ECs and NAEs stayed elevated and fluctuated before slowly decreasing till the end of the deployment. The classical stress hormones showed small increases in the last third of deployment. By contrast, at (high altitude), norepinephrine concentrations increased significantly at the beginning ( < 0.001) which was paralleled by low EC levels. Prior to the second half of deployment, norepinephrine declined constantly to end on a low plateau level, whereas then the EC concentrations increased significantly in this second period during the overwintering ( < 0.001). Psychometric data showed no significant changes in the crews at either station. These findings demonstrate that exposition of healthy humans to the physically challenging extreme environment of Antarctica (i) has a distinct modulating effect on stress responses. Additionally, (ii) acute high altitude/hypobaric hypoxia at the beginning seem to trigger catecholamine release that downregulates the EC response. These results (iii) are not associated with psychological stress.
南极大陆是一个极端条件的环境。全年仅有少数几个有人驻守的研究站。德国的新迈耶三世站和法国 - 意大利的康科迪亚站就是这样的研究平台和人类前哨基地。冬季时，从完全白昼（夏季）到完全黑暗（冬季）的季节性变化，以及外界温度的巨大变化（康科迪亚站低至 -80°C）导致工作人员完全与外界隔绝。此外，由于康科迪亚站位于高海拔（3233米）处，站内人员会遭受约650百帕的低气压性缺氧。我们研究了新迈耶三世站（海平面）的三组科考队员（n = 16）和康科迪亚站（高海拔）的两组科考队员（n = 15），以确定低气压性缺氧对激素/代谢应激参数[内源性大麻素（ECs）、儿茶酚胺和糖皮质激素]的影响，并评估在包括冬季隔离期在内的11个月期间的心理压力。在海平面组的队员中，EC和N - 酰基乙醇胺（NAE）浓度在部署开始时就显著增加（P < 0.001），而儿茶酚胺和皮质醇不受影响。在这一年中，ECs和NAEs一直保持在较高水平并波动，直到部署结束时才缓慢下降。经典应激激素在部署的最后三分之一时间里有小幅增加。相比之下，在高海拔组，去甲肾上腺素浓度在开始时显著增加（P < 0.001），同时EC水平较低。在部署后半段之前，去甲肾上腺素持续下降至低平台水平，而在越冬的第二个阶段，EC浓度在此期间显著增加（P < 0.001）。心理测量数据显示两个站的队员均无显著变化。这些发现表明，让健康人暴露于南极洲极具身体挑战性的极端环境中：（i）对应激反应有明显的调节作用。此外，（ii）开始时的急性高海拔/低气压性缺氧似乎会触发儿茶酚胺释放，从而下调EC反应。这些结果（iii）与心理压力无关。
